So I just replaced my thermostat and went to top of my coolant. I lost about 1 gallon while changing it and noticed that my car coolant had a green tint to it. I bought g 05 coolant as recommend on here and it was clear. I asked the people at auto zone about it and they said it would be ok because the green coolant was the same chemical. So I mixed the g 05 with 50% distilled water and put it in. The car is running great now. Is there anything to be worried about? It has been maintained at the dealer for 4 years.

Thanks!
Tim

 

Sounds like the right coolant. Assuming it was supposed to be mixed 50/50 with water, you did fine.

 

Thanks, my main concern was just that the old coolant was green and this one is clear. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to harm the system having the two mixed. I drove for over an hour and a half though and everything seems ok, no warning lights and running right at 90 degrees C.

 

funnyent, if there is a problem, you won't notice it for a very long time. I can't confirm if you did ok or not. But if the incorrect coolant is in there it will take months possibly years to find out. It will cause rust in the passages and the valleys and same for the radiator... you won't notice temperature change or any warning codes in the MDF..... It may be a Mercedes, but it ain't that smart lol

 

Sometimes G 05 is green, clear, or pale yellow. I try not to trust Auto Zoners because they seldom see Mercedes cars. Here is the list of Benz approved antifreeze products:

http://bevo.mercedes-benz.com/bevolisten/325.0_en.html

You can of course use other products and they might work fine, but why take a chance? A rusty head gasket can cost many times the cost of the specified correct coolant.

 

If the the new coolant container says that you used says it meets specification of your car (or all cars), nothing to worry.

 

Tim/funnyent,
bottom line you will be fine and nothing to worry about

The green coolant is an older type of coolant and you can mix any newer coolant like the clear G05 HOAT without any issues. You don't want to mix the other way putting a green coolant in a newer vehicle though. It is always recommended to flush your old coolant and replace it with a 50%-70% coolant/water mix (don't use tap/regular water...which you did good with distilled water) so that you get the full benefits of the 'fresh' coolant properties and any old corrosion/contaminants out of your system. The older 'green' coolants typically want to be 'flushed' and replaced every 2-3year/30k-40k miles. For older cars that had a 'green' coolant in it you 'typically' don't want to replace/flush it with a newer coolant. If you have an aluminum engine, radiator and heater core you can 'upgrade' to the newer antifreeze with no worries though. Older engines with copper based radiators, heater cores or steel engines will have issues. Why? Well a columnist and Dr from Valvoline explains-- " .....it eats old-style radiators with lead solder, and the inhibitors work too slowly to protect against the sort of corrosion that happens so fast it actually erodes metal-for example, the cavitation likely in the imperfectly designed water pumps of older cars. "Cars born with green coolant shouldn't be changed to orange," Turcotte advises." http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/...ich-antifreeze


Silicated hybrid OAT coolants are specified for 2001 and up DaimlerChrysler vehicles, 2002 and up Ford trucks and SUVs, 2003 and up Ford passenger cars, and 1985 and up Mercedes, BMWs, Volvos and Mini Coopers. http://www.skycrestauto.com/pages/antifreeze.htm


Nope that person at the parts store that is still in high school is wrong...they are not made with the same chemicals . There are some knowledgeable parts people but most just guess or use whatever knowledge they picked up from the street or reading the bottles! Most can't even use a book to cross reference parts anymore (Wow did we used to do that? haha) and can only get parts by using a computer from the model of car someone has.